


Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

by Odyle



Category: Mad Men
Genre: F/M, New Year's Resolutions, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 04:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2838524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Odyle/pseuds/Odyle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Any resolutions, boss?” Stan asks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SuburbanSun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuburbanSun/gifts).



She’s at home alone even though it’s New Year’s and by all means she should be out getting drunk and kissing some stranger who’ll only turn out to be a waste of time. Instead, she’s working. She might as well be. Her new tenants upstairs are throwing a party. They aren’t loud enough to go and break it up, but the shuffling and stamping and shouts of laughter are enough to keep her from sleeping. 

Peggy stares blankly at her page of notes, no longer comprehending what she’s written. It might was well be gibberish, she thinks. That'd just as useful to her. There are only a few minutes left until midnight; she wonders if it is too late to start drinking now. 

The phone rings on her nightstand. Peggy thinks for a moment of ignoring it, but what if something’s happened? She goes and sits on her bed and picks up. 

“Hello?” 

“Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,” says a very rough voice on the other end of the line. Stan, with a bug he’s been fighting since she last saw him a few days before Christmas. 

“Happy New Year to you, too. Are you feeling any better?”

Stan starts hacking on the other end of the line. 

“Have you been to the doctor yet?” Peggy asks. “You should be sleeping, at least.” 

“I saw it was midnight and I figured I should call my main girl and wish her a Happy New Year.” 

Peggy rolls her eyes. She’s sure it carries through to her tone.

“You just wanted to know if I was out.”

“Any resolutions, boss?” Stan asks. 

Peggy doesn’t miss his change of subject. She lies back on the bed as she takes a moment to think about her answer. There are many things she could resolve to do, but most are too intimate to tell him. 

She looks to her left. Her cat is curled up on the pillow next to her as if to remind her of her impending spinsterhood. At least he doesn’t leave the toilet seat up.

“Go on a vacation,” Peggy says. 

“Good luck with that,” Stan says, which devolves into another coughing fit. 

Peggy patiently waits for him to finish coughing, then again for him to catch his breath. 

“You need to go to the doctor,” she says. “You’re not allowed to drop dead until I say you are.”

“Loud and clear, chief.” 

“I’m serious. If I call you again and you still haven’t seen a doctor, I’m going to take you myself,” Peggy says. 

She’s agitated, but there’s not much she can do in her current position that wouldn’t disturb her cat. She settles for kicking off her shoes. They make a satisfying thump as they hit the floor. 

“I’ll go. Scout’s honor.” 

“I’m holding you to that,” Peggy says. She pauses for a long breath. “Do you have any resolutions?” 

“Treat myself better,” Stan says. 

“Good luck with that,” Peggy says. 

He laughs at her joke. It is an open and honest laugh. Getting Stan to laugh is easy, but she still covets the ability to push him over that line. 

“Go to sleep,” Peggy says.

“Is that an order?” 

He is a terrible flirt. Peggy doesn’t mind it after so many years and so much grief. They understand each other in a way that she appreciates, but still leaves her feeling lonely. 

“Does it need to be?” 

“Happy New Year,” Stan says.

“Happy New Year,” Peggy replies. 

She waits on the line for the other end to go dead, but Stan is still holding on. Peggy isn’t sure if he’s drifted to sleep or if he is waiting on her. 

“Go to sleep,” she says for good measure. 

Stan is laughing again when the line goes dead.


End file.
